Jesus Loves the Little Children

Something that has been prominent on my heart this week is Genesis 1:27 - "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

In my previous mission trips to Africa, I was never much of a baby-holder. I always connected more with the older, teenage girls and shared life with them.

Almost every day this week, God placed a baby girl in my arms. My ministry team is working with AIM administration, going to all the different care points around Manzini and collecting information for the children's profiles. Each care point has a slightly different dynamic, atmosphere, and SES situation. Wednesday, we were at a care point with very excited, loving, financially poor kids. They all grabbed our hands and begged for our love and attention. All except one.

She couldn't have been more than two years old, and she didn't talk at all. She wore a dirty pink track suit with tons of holes in it. No shoes. She stood by herself and kept looking to the left...not at anything specific, just to the left. She didn't react or anything when I walked up to her, so I picked her up. She was a rag doll. She didn't move on her own at all. I just held on to her and sang to her. She didn't fuss or look at me or anything. She fell asleep in my arms, and a woman took her from me to lay her down inside. An hour later, she woke up, and it was the same story. Looking to the left, rag doll. She did eventually look at me, but it wasn't for very long. Her breathing was raspy, like she needed to cough, but couldn't.

As I held this poor, sick child (I never found out her name), I kept thinking back to Genesis.

This beautiful child was God's image.

I was literally holding a tiny personification of The Lord.

A daughter to the King.

Mind. Blown.

At our Thursday care point, the congregation of children blessed us by singing:

 Jesus loves the little children
All the children of the world
Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in his sight
Jesus loves the little children of the world

  Hearing this simple song out of the Swazi children's mouths was absolutely beautiful. They reminded me that the same Maker who created them also created me, and we are all tiny personifications of our Father. We are all wonderfully and fearfully made in his image.

Mind. Blown.

Swazi week 1!

Sawubona from Manzini!

My team of 34 college students from all over the US and Canada arrived safely in Swaziland on Monday afternoon. It has been a glorious couple of days, and I'm so blessed to be here. 

Our team has been split into two separate teams, and I am living in a 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom house with 22 other teammates. I share a bedroom with 10 girls. We have limited running water and no working toilet. Squatty potties and bucket showers authenticate my African summer. 

We have been acclimating ourselves to the beautiful Swazi culture, and tomorrow marks our first day of ministry. Locations haven't been assigned yet, but I will likely be working in the AIM office assisting the staff. I am so excited to see what God has for me here. 

Saturdays will be our day off each week, which will likely be when blog posts and emails happen. We don't have Internet at the homestead, so wifi access requires a trip to the mall or local Internet cafe. 

I love you all!